Thursday, August 11, 2011

KNOXVILLE -- Emily Dowd and Emily Shore share more than just a first name.
As kids, they shared mini-van rides. They shared friends and teammates. They played on their first club team together, and they stuck together as they progressed through the club ranks as teenagers.
They even shared the same college choice - even if it wasn't the obvious one for two soccer players who grew up in Gainesville, Fla.

Monday, August 1, 2011

I didn't take Physics in high school. I avoided it in college. Derek Dooley used a physics equation seamlessly in his preseason media briefing today. I think it's quite possible that he would be my favorite coach in the country even if he did not wear orange.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Before today, my last post on this sinking ship known as my blog was November 19, 2009. Lane Kiffin was still UT's football coach. Miley Cyrus was still in her horrible music-making prime. Nobody knew who Rebecca Black was.

So what happened? I got Twitter. It's quick, easy, and worked on my phone. For all of their world-dominating ways, Google has struggled with making Blogger mobile-friendly.

But, I've been fortunate enough to start contributing to UTSports.com and UTLadyVols.com on a semi-frequent basis over the last few months, and those contributions will become more frequent in the near future. You'll notice I've linked to most of my features over the last year here in the blog. I'll continue to link to the full stories posted there. I'll also run some fresh stuff here, maybe excerpts from interviews that were cut from a story, sometime full stories that I'll write but we just don't have a place for on the UT sites.

You'll also notice that I haven't monetized the blog, so I'm not making anything off of it. It wouldn't be fair or appropriate to gain financially from some of the behind-the-scenes access that I'm granted to write and to help out at events.

KNOXVILLE -- Hundreds of young athletes spend part of their summer vacations improving their games and skills at one of Tennessee's summer sports camps. And they get to do it all in some of the nation's finest athletic facilities.

For the programs running those camps, though, there's more than just coaching up young athletes from around the region. Summer camps serve as a front door for many of the programs on campus. For some, camp is a chance to bring in fans - both campers and their families - from all over the country that have previously only seen Tennessee through the eyes of a TV camera.

The ideal itinerary for the day had the Lady Vols at home relaxing Saturday night, preparing for a Knoxville Regional Championship matchup on Sunday. Instead, the team was busy rallying around themselves, trying to earn that berth in Sunday's final, thanks to their first loss of the postseason at the hands of Oklahoma State in Saturday's opener.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Disrespect was a phrase thrown around a lot on Sunday night in the Tennessee Softball clubhouse following the NCAA Softball selection show. The Lady Volunteers will host an NCAA Regional for the seventh straight season and will appear in the tournament for the eighth straight season, but the feeling in the team video room Sunday night harkened back to another selection night eight years ago where the end result was completely different.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- On most Saturday nights in SEC softball, a two-home run, four-RBI night in a winning effort would be the lead story. In a nationally-televised game, the performance might even make "Top Plays" on Sportscenter. But on a Saturday night that just happened to be the SEC Tournament Championship, a game that just happened to be on ESPN, a walk-off home run stole most of the spotlight. Nice problem for a team to have, right?

DAYTON, Ohio -- It is often said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What Lady Vols hoped was a journey to a National Championship this season took a step back on Monday night at the University of Dayton Arena, but a team that loses just two seniors and one starter, the journey to the 2012 Final Four is just beginning.

DAYTON, Ohio -- The line on the official play by play reads simply "BLOCK by Simmons, Meighan 16:42." The effect of that one line on the stat sheet on Tennessee's 85-75 win and the rest of the Lady Vols' season could be immeasurable. Obviously, no one in the Tennessee locker room at the University of Dayton Arena was happy as the team ran in for halftime on Saturday afternoon. Though Shekinna Stricklen had just come around two defenders to nail a two-pointer as the first half buzzer sounded to pull the Lady Vols within two at 42-40, the first-half effort was clearly not what Pat Summitt or her squad had in mind.

DAYTON, Ohio -- Just a few feet and a steep ramp away from Tennessee's press conference in the University of Dayton Arena, it was quite the relaxed atmosphere in the Lady Vol locker room, where the team opened the doors for the media for the open locker room session.

KODAK, Tenn. - When Ty'Relle Harris entered the visitor's clubhouse at Smokies Park on Wednesday night, the former Vol was a Mississippi Brave who was excited for the opportunity for a homecoming of sorts, playing again in East Tennessee. Less than two hours later, Harris found out that, thanks to his parent club's need for a big bat in its lineup, the homecoming was going to be a little more permanent than the scheduled five-game series.

Monday, November 16, 2009

They still sell cassette tapes at gas stations. This photo was taken somewhere between the Alabama line and Birmingham. I don't know that the town even has a name. But God did they ever have cassette tapes. Glorious.

If you zoom in, you can see some of the names. Mostly people and groups that haven't had hits since cassette tapes actually existed. Pat Benetar, Styx, Peter Frampton, Peter Cetera. I was speechless.